Bduhmana & VampiricNarwhal’s Bot Lane Banter Presents: BOL Gold Week 4

Power Rankings

Top Tier Teams

Jolly Rogers Ghost Crew

Although they sit at second in the standings currently, they are still the strongest team in the league. Each play on this team has shown up individually, as well as cohesively. Their threat is multi-tiered and their in game play just looks a notch above the rest of the competition. Although they did finally lose a single game in a series, so there is some promise for other teams to try and replicate that moving forward. But as of now–this is the final boss and something tells me this isn’t even their final form

Glacial Void

Although I said Jolly Rogers is the strongest in the league, I absolutely have been arguing that Glacial Void is the most consistent team. They know what their drafts want to do, they execute it well, and can bounce back if they struggle with setbacks. The reality, though, is this team doesn’t have many setbacks so it is essential to respect them as the solid team they are with one of the strongest jd/mid duos in the league. I have also been saying GV Tremmie is the best mid in the league and every week he has shown his flexibility to be the carry this team needs regardless of what he is drafted (or maybe even because of him? I’d be curious to find out their drafting secrets).

OSG Tactical Freeze

Week after week, with role swaps and iteration changes, this team has made a steady climb into the top tier. While some could argue their schedule has been part of that success, week 4 will be a fantastic way to see just how they measure up against other top tier teams. My argument is they deserve to be in the top tier and this week gives them that chance to really shine or it’ll be a great litmus test for where this team stands.

Mid Tier Teams

LE Prime

As predicted, this team has been steadily climbing and looking really clean after week 3. It is still too soon to say whether or not they can keep that climb and take a top tier spot, as a lot of the mid tier teams are only a couple games difference from OSG Tactical Freeze. With the schedule stacked in their favor, I suspect LE Prime is looking for that spot this week.

CB Impulse

Out of the mid tier teams, this CB is sitting lower in the standings but remains a strong mid tier team. With Impulse taking a game off the series against Jolly Rogers last week, they showcased some of those strengths . That combined alongside drafting more engage heavy comps will only help them actualize how they want to play the game. I will be looking to BillyWillard this week to see how he can facilitate his winning lanes into a stronger mid game that provides them with more reliable win conditions.

CB Phreaks

Phreaks struggled last week against LE Prime, but that doesn’t mean this team isn’t still a strong middle of the pack team. It does mean they have weaknesses that teams can and have punished, so their goal this week is to clean those up. Their foundation is solid–so now is the time to buckle down and work on cleaning up transitions and being more concise with how they want to win their games.

Fools Five Squires

With their roster changes that took place, they find themselves still struggling with their current iteration after losing to Glacial Void 0-2. I do think this team has some really fantastic players–I would just love to see how they all five fit (because right now it looks like there isn’t enough support to allows fugitive to pop off and carry in the ways shown in previous weeks. 

Lower Tier Teams

Fool’s Five Mercenaries

With Mercs beating Nefarious Demons 2-1 last week, they find themselves getting closer to being a mid tier team. That being said, their newest roster changes going into week four put up more questions because it is starting to look like they have a cohesive team. I am unsure which five play tonight, but I will be looking to Moon and QBall to see how they can utilize their botlane advantages the way they showed they could last week.

Nefarious Demons

Nefarious Demons showed some life in their series against Mercs, as they had a strong win in the series they lost to Mercs. That being said, they have a tough matchup in week four, so they will need to be buckling down and using their strengths to keep building. If they continue to focus on what isn’t working, they might just find themselves teetering.

Hyperion White Rabbit

Hyperion has found themselves stuck after their third series lost last week. I will be looking to see how their roster changes and role swaps play out this week before I say anything else, because there are good components on this team that just haven’t been able to get wins and the tinkering can potentially be exactly what they need to fix it.

Week 4 Matchups

CB Impulse v Fools Five Squires: 2-0

Impulse took a game off Jolly Rogers and Squires didn’t get a game off Glacial Void. On paper, this alone means Impulse is the favored team to win. But moreso, I think Accel and Sword got to showcase how strong they are and that is how I think that is how they win this week’s series, as well.

If squires wants to create an upset, I would love to see their botlane draft some duos that allow them more agency in lane and releases qwethe to focus on other parts of the map, because they need their solo lanes to get ahead if they want to be able to match the midgame prowess that Impulse brings.

Nefarious Demons v Glacial Void: 1-2

Glacial is favored to win this matchup, and their consistency is how they will make it happen. I'll be looking to see how Jel takes control of the map in ways that help facilitate their clear win conditions. 

Although we seem to have finalized where each player goes, there is still a need to double down on how to use those strengths as win conditions. If Demons can be on the same page and in the zone the way they have in their wins, then they can create an upset. It will depend on ingame mental and how Hoodie leads this team in their midgame.

Hyperion White Rabbit v LE Prime: 0-2

This one feels like a clean sweep now that LE Prime has found its form and is flying high. If there is an upset to be had, I want to see how Hyperion handles their weakside because the mistakes on weakside give up leads and that is easily punishable by a team like Prime.

Jolly Rogers Ghost Crew v OSG Tactical Freeze: 2-1

This is my matchup to watch for the week. I think NoName and NasGhost are going to pop off and punish the weaker laning of their opponents.

If OSG wants to create the upset, they just gotta play clean up their weakside and really focus on their team’s strengths, because Trainergain can carry and I would love to see their team prioritize that possibility in draft and ingame execution.

CB Phreaks v Fools Five Mercenaries: 2-0

CB Phreaks is a dominant team and looks like they definitely should be storming through the comparatively weak Fools Five Mercenaries. Like it feels like it should just be a stomp, so its a bit hard to talk about.

For Mercs to create an upset, I think they work on drafting strong for game one and really focus on their botlane. That is how they win, but execution will be key.